DiNapoli: 1,284 New State Contracts in November

The state entered into 1,284 new contracts in November 2008, totaling approximately $1.2 billion, according to State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. Details regarding these contracts can be found in the Open Book New York Web site (www.openbooknewyork.com). This is roughly half the number of new state contracts the state has typically entered into when compared to previous months.

“The current economic crisis and growing budget shortfall have forced the state to re-evaluate operations and spending. This is the first month we have seen a noticeable decline in the number of new contracts since launching the Web site,” DiNapoli said. “Open Book New York is a valuable tool in helping taxpayers monitor how the state is prioritizing projects and managing their money during these tough fiscal times.”

The largest contracts approved in November include (for specific questions on these contracts, contact the state agency directly):

$672 million contract between the Division of the Budget and the New York State Urban Development Corporation for Bond Series 2008D;

$38.7 million contract between the Office of General Services and the Cardiac Science Corporation for automated external defibrillators. This contract was negotiated by OGS and can be used by state agencies and other authorized users;

$30 million contract between the College of Environmental Science & Forestry and the Syracuse University BURSAR Operations for a five-year instruction agreement; and

$28 million contract between the Department of Correctional Services and UNISYS Corporation for the inmate phone home program.

The breakdown of new contracts approved in previous months includes:

2,335 new contracts in July totaling $1.9 billion;

2,421 new contracts in August totaling $613 million;

2,806 new contracts in September totaling $62.9 billion (debt/borrowing contracts); and

2,778 new contracts in October totaling $1.039 billion.

To download an Excel spreadsheet or PDF file of all new October contracts, go to www.openbooknewyork.com. Click on search state contracts. Select “All State Agencies” and under the advanced search feature, enter the time frame of October 2008.

About Open Book New York Open Book New York (www.openbooknewyork.com) is an easy-to-use Web site that gives taxpayers unprecedented access to the financial information of state and local governments. The Web site contains searchable databases of more than 60,000 state contracts and spending for more than 100 state agencies and 3,100 local governments. All the available information can be loaded as a PDF file or an Excel spreadsheet.